40 noted, "The world reacting to Drake’s involvement so negatively, I just wanted nothing to do with it … We released [‘Enough Said’], but I was seven songs deep. [Aaliyah’s] mother saying 'I don’t want this out' was enough for me. I walked away very quickly."

Shebib continued, "I was naïve to the politics surrounding Aaliyah's legacy and a bit ignorant to Timbaland's relationship and everybody else involved and how they'd feel. Tim said to me, 'Don't stop, make the album.' I think that was Tim taking the position of, 'I'm not going to stop you. If you're not going to do it, that's your decision.' But ultimately, I wasn't comfortable and didn't like the stigma.”